812 problems have been reported for the 2003 Volkswagen Passat. The following chart shows the 25 most common problems for 2003 Volkswagen Passat. The number one most common problem is related to the vehicle's engine and engine cooling with 154 problems. The second most common problem is related to the vehicle's fuel system, gasoline (139 problems).
In our research we use the PPMY index to compare the reliability of vehicles. The PPMY index of a certain model is defined as the problems reported per thousand vehicles per Year. The total sales of the 2003 Volkswagen Passat in the United States are 105,137 units [1]. If the total number of problems reported by Volkswagen Passat owners in the last 22 years is 812, and the age of the vehicle is 22, the PPMY index can then be calculated as
PPMY Index = 812 / 105,137 / 22 * 1000 = 0.35.
For more information, refer to this page: A study of reliability comparison across Volkswagen Passat model year vehicles.
The following chart shows the number of problems reported during each of the service years since the debut of the 2003 Volkswagen Passat in 2003.
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When making the decision between buying a new or used Volkswagen Passat, the following table can be used to compare the 2003 Volkswagen Passat with the Volkswagen Passat from other model years. Note that the number of problems reported for the 2003 Passat is 812 while the average number of problems reported for the 27 model years of the Volkswagen Passat is 371.